J.K. Lasser Institute - J. K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2010
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JK Lasser's 2010 Income Tax Guide. Because the IRS will never go out of business
Pros
Layout. Pretty easy to understand. Examples and alerts. Extensive Index.
Cons
Does not have have last-minute tax law changes enacted by Congress.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
This J.K. Lasser 2010 income tax guide will be very helpful in filing your tax return. I highly recommend it.
If you file your own income tax return you will probably want to brush up on all the changes in the tax law for 2009. This year I bought JK Lasser's Your Income Tax 2010: For Preparing your 2009 Tax Return in order to make sure I file my own return correctly. This tax guide has been very helpful in helping me gather all the information I need to file the return, and has also given me ideas for next year's return.
JK Lasser's Your Income Tax 2010 is a big, soft-cover book (800+ pages) with a bright yellow cover. They are easy to spot in the bookstore and cost less than $20 – a real bargain if you ask me. The large format of the book (8'' X 11") and floppy pages makes it easy to leave open and read. The pages are pretty thin, but think of it as a workbook where you can scribble all over it, fold the pages, or even tear out the sections you don't like.
This income tax guide is divided into eight broad sections, as follows:
Filing Basics
Reporting Your Income
Deductions
Tax Computations
Tax Planning
Business Tax Planning
Filing Your Return
Sample Tax Forms
Each category is subdivided into numerous smaller categories. One thing I like about this tax guide is the examples they show which can help explain a particular tax situation. One example is about sightseeing on the side when traveling for business. Can all of the expenses incurred on the trip be deducted? No – only the portion associated with conducting business. The guide recommends keeping a record of all costs that are business-related, and documentation of events attended.
Some other helpful items in the guide are: tax filing tips, tax planning reminders, potential pitfalls, an IRS alert, and court decisions. These are noted with little icons. One interesting alert was on the court-ordered withdraw of funds from an IRA to enforce payment of child support. The guy who had forfeit his IRA funds also had to pay a penalty for early withdraw of the funds. It did not matter that withdrawing the funds was involuntary.
Near the end of the book are all the tax tables for 2009. These are helpful so you can see exactly what you will owe, even if you end up using an electronic tax filing software. I know some people who will check the tax table and then go back and ''find more deductions'' in order to get into the final tax bracket they like. I do not recommend doing this!
The book includes an extensive Index at the end and a Glossary. If these are not enough information you can also check-out the JK Lasser website for free information. However, I thought the website was largely an advertisement for their monthly newsletter. Also, the book only rarely cites the IRS Tax Code directly. If you want to read the actual law or rulings, I recommend looking elsewhere.
Overall I am finding that the JK Lasser's Your Income Tax 2010 tax guide is very helpful. It has all the information I need on items such as IRAs, various types of income, common deductions, and some planning recommendations. It does not have last-minute tax law changes though, so you may want to check their website or IRS.gov for those. But I think for the average person this guide will be enough to help file their personal tax returns correctly and on time.
JK Lasser's Your Income Tax 2010 is a big, soft-cover book (800+ pages) with a bright yellow cover. They are easy to spot in the bookstore and cost less than $20 – a real bargain if you ask me. The large format of the book (8'' X 11") and floppy pages makes it easy to leave open and read. The pages are pretty thin, but think of it as a workbook where you can scribble all over it, fold the pages, or even tear out the sections you don't like.
This income tax guide is divided into eight broad sections, as follows:
Filing Basics
Reporting Your Income
Deductions
Tax Computations
Tax Planning
Business Tax Planning
Filing Your Return
Sample Tax Forms
Each category is subdivided into numerous smaller categories. One thing I like about this tax guide is the examples they show which can help explain a particular tax situation. One example is about sightseeing on the side when traveling for business. Can all of the expenses incurred on the trip be deducted? No – only the portion associated with conducting business. The guide recommends keeping a record of all costs that are business-related, and documentation of events attended.
Some other helpful items in the guide are: tax filing tips, tax planning reminders, potential pitfalls, an IRS alert, and court decisions. These are noted with little icons. One interesting alert was on the court-ordered withdraw of funds from an IRA to enforce payment of child support. The guy who had forfeit his IRA funds also had to pay a penalty for early withdraw of the funds. It did not matter that withdrawing the funds was involuntary.
Near the end of the book are all the tax tables for 2009. These are helpful so you can see exactly what you will owe, even if you end up using an electronic tax filing software. I know some people who will check the tax table and then go back and ''find more deductions'' in order to get into the final tax bracket they like. I do not recommend doing this!
The book includes an extensive Index at the end and a Glossary. If these are not enough information you can also check-out the JK Lasser website for free information. However, I thought the website was largely an advertisement for their monthly newsletter. Also, the book only rarely cites the IRS Tax Code directly. If you want to read the actual law or rulings, I recommend looking elsewhere.
Overall I am finding that the JK Lasser's Your Income Tax 2010 tax guide is very helpful. It has all the information I need on items such as IRAs, various types of income, common deductions, and some planning recommendations. It does not have last-minute tax law changes though, so you may want to check their website or IRS.gov for those. But I think for the average person this guide will be enough to help file their personal tax returns correctly and on time.
